Sparkplug Wires

["J. Michael Daugherty" <jmdaugh@domain.elided>]

>From: cleaving@domain.elided
>Subject: Re: Weird Tranny, Loadstar Dreams Again
 
>Mike,
> Did you get a good deal on some good drugs, or have you just been talking
>to Tom Mandera :)

Curt, No drugs, perhaps I've been breathing too much rust while working on
the Scout II...

     In an attempt to make starting possible this winter, I've replaced the
distributor cap, rotor and spark plugs.  BTW, the cap had the "IH" [man on
tractor] molded into it.  The parts man said that this is the best sparkplug
wire set they carry,  Standard Plus set no: 7830.  The box even confirms
this claim with: "The Best Wire Set You Can Buy!"  I guess if these aren't
good enough, I'll have to make the replacements myself!  :-)  
     When installing the new wires I tried to match the wire lengths, but
naturally they did not exactly all match the lengths of the old set. [The
set I removed had Whittiker Supronic molded into the boots.]  How critical
is it to match wire length?  Is it possible to find a "Factory Dimension"
for wire length?  I don't know if this is supposed to locate which cylinder
they go with or not, but three of the distributor ends go straight up out of
the cap and five turn 90 degrees at the cap.  The old set had the straight
out type distributor ends with all eight wires.
     In any case, when I turned the key, the engine started with more
enthusiasm than I remember it ever having.
     One other question - the paper inside the sparkplug wire box states
that some wires were equipped with metal heat shields in high heat
applications.  The shield apparently goes around the sparkplug boot.  I
trust IH didn't use these.  What engines did?

Thanks for your help,   Mike 

jmdaugh@domain.elided